Now I may be way off wack here, but in my experience, ALL deloreans make a slight rattling noise - just as you describe, as in like a ratchet being spun. On my (running) car it's most noticable if you stick your ear near the alternator (and FWIW I've heard a car with the alternator blades hitting the bracket and that's MUCH louder - you can't mistake that). My own diagnosis is that it's the tensioning sliders for the timing chains - they're made of metal and do make a continuous healthy chattering. #1458 has only got 6000 miles and it's markedly noisier than on a friend's 30k+ car. Martin #1458 #4426 -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .